It is important to take some time to relax and pamper yourself. Your body and your baby will thank you for those ten minutes of quiet time…put your feet up, watch your favorite TV show or movie. Sit back and relax.

Other ways to relax and unwind?

A bubble bath, but not too hot!

Reading a great book. Pick up a recent best seller or give into to your favorite author.

Get a massage. It can help move that baby right along.

Exercise. Get out and go for a walk, just be careful with your balance. Bring your cell phone and a buddy along.

Have a hobby? Or love doing crafts? Focus on creating something and get in a zone.

Meditate – use some of our breathing techniques

Take a nap

Talk your partner into a date night.

Oooh, today is my son’s birthday! What a wonderful way to bring a smile to MY face today.

This is your time. You’ve created a LIFE! Celebrate it. Yes, you feel like a horse. But realize, you look gorgeous to all of the rest of us. For those that have been there, we felt it too, but still, the sense of life fluttering in your stomach. Be proud. This is natural. Our bodies are built to have babies and built to go right back to where they were before or even better.

Some of us only get to do this once. Some women never want or get to. While it will take a few months for you to get your body back, we promise, it does go back if you’re active and watching what you eat. (And drinking your water and getting any sleep you can.)

Celebrate your body for what it is accomplishing. Other cultures revere motherhood so much more than our own. While others keep it hidden and feel it’s unclean. Forget about them all. Enjoy who you are. Enjoy this phase your body is going through. And most of all realize you are creating something truly unique and wonderful.

Right now, you’re thinking WHAT? I can’t even think straight or all I can think about is this baby.

But it is a good time to pick up an online class or local one to perhaps learn Spanish. Take an art workshop. Meditation classes can benefit both you and the baby. They’ll definitely make for a more relaxing birth.

Pick up a book on organic baby food if you must focus on learning something about being a mom! While it’ll be some time before the baby’s ready for it, you’ll be prepared when the time is right.

Find a space in the house, outdoors, somewhere special where you can go and just be you.

Being a mom can be overwhelming and all-consuming, you need somewhere to remember to be YOU. This is a sacred space. It is all about you. Put things you love here. Your books, your favorite blanket, pillows. Create a nest. Even if you can only retreat here for five minutes, you will relish the time.

Too often when the baby arrives, their stuff takes over every room in the house.

I quickly learned to declare the living room to be toy free when no child was in it. Our son learned quickly that his toys needed to migrate back to the den or his room when he was no longer in the living room. Yes, there are still days I find the random car tucked between the couch cushions, but for the majority of our days, I can sink down on the couch, blissfully toy and stuffed animal free.

Friends of mine have created sacred spaces in small corners of rooms, or just declared a part of the couch as their own. Wherever it is, decorate it with pillows, blankets….something that brings you comfort and you can claim as you own.

We’ve also declared the Master Bath to be child-free zone at least when Mommy is taking a bath. It’s my down time…and how I recharge.

Realize that this is at once the hardest job on the planet and the most rewarding. Our bodies can change, adapt and change back. Celebrate that! You are an amazing women and you’re going to be an amazing mother. We don’t all get it right, but we do better each and every day.

As Molly Cerreta Smith points out in her article at www.sheknows.com “Becoming a mother is a selfless act with countless rewards.”

Some great things to do for yourself include:

Make a list of all the things you enjoyed doing before you were a Mother. So, some of them you may not get back to for a while. But, you want that list to remind you of who YOU are.

Buy yourself a beautiful robe or comfortable workout gear – it can be the easiest thing to wear post pregnancy and the most flattering. (The workout gear, not the robe ;))

Get your hair, nails, toes done. It’ll truly make you feel beautiful.

If you haven’t already, get your pregnancy photos done. Love your body and the creation you’ve made

Meet a good friend for a cup of tea at Starbucks or a local hangout. Catch up on all the going-ons.

You’re getting into the weeks where we start to focus on relaxation and winding down, so you’ll be hearing a lot from me this week.

Our bodies and minds respond to things we’ve trained them to do.

Now is the time to create a ritual to teach your mind it’s time to unwind and sleep. Think about putting the baby to bed (and perhaps getting a music/MP3 to create a ritual for baby), taking a warm bath, reading a little and then gently falling asleep. You need your sleep, and it will be a challenge to get enough of it while you adapt to being mom. The ritual will help your body relax when you want and need it to.

A recent U.S. government survey of 79,000 adults found that parents, and especially mothers, were more likely than all other adults to report insufficient sleep.

About 35 percent of all moms surveyed reported not getting enough sleep. Just think of all the ones who didn’t participate in the survey! I don’t know a single mother who feels she gets enough sleep. At least, not the ones with kids still living under their roof!

Health-related problems stemming from a lack of sleep includes irritability, lack of concentration, reduced decision-making skills, and loss of emotional control. Consistent lack of sleep can impair the immune system, increase the appetite and slow metabolism, promoting weight gain.

We can control our heart rate, our blood pressure and our pain thresholds. Practice the art of breathing in and up, out and down. You’ll be amazed at how much that simple action allows you to focus and listen to your body, and your baby.

A quick revisit on the Reverse Pattern Breathing we discussed in Week 13 (link back to post)

Sit up straight for the moment, so you can really feel your body following the movements. The mantra, or phrasing you want to hold in your mind, is “In and up, out and down.” You’re going to breathe in, pulling your navel into your spine. And up, allowing your lungs to expand and fill with air.

Slow and steady. Repeat it at least three times to start and work yourself up to using it as part of your relaxation sessions. That’s all there is to it! Yoga and Qi Gong will teach you alternate patterns to focus your attention as well. I find this one works for me no matter where I am. If I focus my attention on breathing in this manner, I can control my blood pressure at the doctor’s office or even calm myself before stepping in front of a large group of people to give a lecture.

Insert video example?

Whatever birthing class you’re taking or have taken, remember the simple art of breathing can make your body relax, your heart rate even out, lower your blood pressure, and help to keep the baby relaxed too.